At the bookstore's cafe, the soup of the day was potato-vegetable. My dad and I both ordered soup, then sat in a booth. A woman with short dark hair was waiting for take-out. A group of three adults approached the counter to order.

We overheard that the woman waiting for her food was originally from Lafayette, Louisiana. My dad spoke up: We're from Lafayette. She approached the table, and they ran through names and locations to find out who they knew in common. We learned she's a local artist.

The artist had just spoken with the other three customers. Turns out they too were from Lafayette. (They seemed a bit dazed, little eye contact, perhaps because of the storm.) All six diners at Pablo's in Athens, Alabama at 2 PM today were from Lafayette, Louisiana, over 400 miles away.